Exhibition blooms

Published:09:30Friday 24 February 2012

The Whitehouse Gallery in Kirkcudbright opens its doors on Saturday, March 3, with an exhibition of colourful and cheerful work to drag us out of the winter blues. The exhibition preview will open from 11am, and all are welcome to attend and enjoy the art with a complimentary glass of bubbly and locally handmade chocolates.

“Mille-fleurs” runs until Saturday, April 28, and will focus predominantly upon flower-based work from a wealth of fine artists and applied craft makers.

Contributing artists include Alison Dickson, Marion Drummond, James Fraser, Victor Henderson, Moira Kelman, Brenda Lenaghan RSW, Fiona Millar, Ingebjorg Smith, Mairi Stewart, Emma Williams and Gordon Wilson. Although many of these are regular exhibitors, there will also be a few new names to the gallery for 2012.

The Whitehouse Gallery is thrilled to be welcoming Marion Drummond for the first time with some of her beautiful still-life paintings. She is a highly respected contemporary artist, whose work is extremely sought after by collectors. Marion would describe herself as a representational/romantic artist, with a focus on light, with the subject matter always being real and studied. Marion tends to paint in oils, and works quickly with fingers and rags, a method she adopted for working on life. She sculpts the paint, feeling her way and mixing on the board for speed and spontaneity, and professes that she cannot feel anything like the same excitement when working with brushes.

Glasgow based Gordon Wilson is another new artist to the Whitehouse Gallery. Working predominantly in oils, his subject matter for this exhibition can be described as dynamic landscape. His expressive oil paintings are inspired by his native Scotland; whether dark and moody or an explosion of colour they reflect the ever changing moods of both the countryside and the artist himself. Demand for Gordons work has grown steadily each year as his notoriety increases.

Artist Emma Williams is a young painter in her prime, based in England. Emma’s time spent studying printed textile design at Huddersfield University is strongly evident in her paintings, using flat perspective and bold colour with dramatic effect. The still life style shines out strong, vibrant and glorious, bringing a contemporary vision to a grand old artistic tradition. Demand for her work is steadily increasing and Emma Williams is now one of the most sought after young painters working in Britain.

Edinburgh based Mairi Stewart will be exhibiting some of her wonderful, colourful still life paintings, which are a personal response to her surroundings and to the familiar objects, colours and patterns which have become embedded in the artists’ memory.

Working mainly in acrylic, Mairi paints on canvas or board, allowing her to glaze layers of colour onto the surface of the work and create a much more intense colour palette.

Craig Mitchell will be exhibiting some of his wonderful ceramic sculptural pieces, alongside delightful, unique silver jewellery by Becky Crow, felt work by Rachel Morley & Linda Keith, aswell as driftwood sculptural pieces by Shirley Vauvelle. There will also be new a ceramic tableware collection by Kinsman-Blake and a stunning new collection of glass from Stuart Akroyd, alongside new work from regular makers such as Urpu Sellar, Phil Crennell & Elizabeth Waugh.

The exhibition can be viewed online a few days before the opening, and work can be purchased directly from the website.

For more information, please contact The Whitehouse Gallery on 01557 330223 or info@whitehousegallery.com or visit www.whitehousegallery.com.